Congratulations, Barça B!
With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first [...]

With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first team manager tomorrow (Tuesday).

The team finished the regular season with a record of 25W-8D-5L (83pts), 70GF 41GA (+29GD). At home they were unbeaten, winning 17 and drawing just twice. They weren’t so great away (8W-6D-5L), but they got the job done when it counted: the playoffs. There, they drew their first game away to Castillo 2-2, but then blanked them in the return leg 6-0. They advanced to the final and again started away to Barbastro, winning 0-2. At home in the return leg Barça B won 1-0 and secured their promotion.

Congratulations to all the Barça B players!

It’s now official, so welcome, Gerard Pique!
“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.” Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the [...]

“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.”

Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the defender, who was signed away when he was 17 years old from our youth ranks, isn’t any less sweet.

And now, the stats. He’s just 21 years old and can play center or right back (for those wondering about the Alves stand-in). He’s 6-foot-4 inches tall, and is known for his good head. The fiscal deal isn’t really all that well-known, but as has been reported earlier, it’s probably something around the bargain price of 5 million.

He gives us size, he gives us pace, and on set pieces he’s a real threat with his height and size. This is no Crouch. Pique has some meat on his bones, and gives us much-needed defensive depth. It goes without saying that he can defend with his head as well, and you’d need to be one hell of a leaper to outdo him.

Are we as excited about this signing as the others? Not quite, because I don’t figure Pique to have a regular spot in the starting XI. But as well all saw, depth was a huge problem for us last season. As back line players got tired, the folks that were brought in weren’t quite up to snuff. Thuram worked hard and knows a lot, but he isn’t anything vaguely approximating the man he once was. So there was lots of flailing. As the season wears on, easy controls of counterattacks become just a step behind the attacker, which leads to goals. Depth is critical, and Pique is part of that program.

He’s Catalan, so he understands what it means to wear the shirt.

Pique continued, “My desire to play for this club is unlike that I have for any other.”

I have no doubt that he’ll show it. Man U sold him at a good time for his development. He’s going to become one hell of a defender, and like all good young’uns coming up in Catalunya, he bleeds blaugrana.

So let’s give it up for the newest member of the side, and wish him well.

P.S. Yes, I know what his last name is, and I don’t care that it isn’t all that uncommon in CataLand. I just can’t bring myself to type it sometimes.

A big day in Barca history….a.k.a. “Votar no!”
As in, vote no against the “no confidence” vote. This is, for many Barca fans, a big day in the club’s history. Bigger than any player signing, bigger than any match win or loss. Sunday, July 6 is the day that a vote that was forced by soci Oriol Giralt has, along with 5,882 other [...]

As in, vote no against the “no confidence” vote.

This is, for many Barca fans, a big day in the club’s history. Bigger than any player signing, bigger than any match win or loss. Sunday, July 6 is the day that a vote that was forced by soci Oriol Giralt
has, along with 5,882 other socis, angled for a no confidence vote against current Barcelona board president Joan Laporta and his mates. (There are now more than 9,000 signatures on the petition.)

So, what’s at stake here? Essentially, control and direction of the club for the foreseeable future. Here are the facts. My rant will follow after that.

After two silver-less seasons, Giralt began to circulate a petition that garnered the necessary number of signatures to force the vote. If 65 percent of voting socis vote for the Giralt petition, the board is dissolved and elections will be held within three months, for a new president and board.

The in-person vote will take place at the Camp Nou on Sunday, July 6.

Now for speculation.

Sandro Rosell,

who has a past with Laporta, is rumored to be the leading candidate to replace Laporta. He’s essentially running on a “I’ll bring Kun Aguero to the Nou Camp” platform. Rosell denies that he has anything to do with this petition drive, but has of late criticized everything from player sales and transfers, to what Laporta had for breakfast and the color of his socks.

Laporta is saying that a no confidence vote could paralyze the board and the team at a critical time, in effect freezing all player activity and allowing for nothing but the basic, day-to-day operations of the club. Here is the relevant passage:

“The interim committee exercises the functions of government, administration and representation that belong to the board, but limited to the acts that are necessary and inevitable for the normal functioning of the club and the protection of its interests.”

Now, that bold-faced bit is where the lawyers are going to get involved. Laporta, quite naturally, suggests that passage does NOT allow for transfers or completions of ongoing negotiations. Giralt says that Laporta is a liar and scare-monger, that transfers at this time of the season are most definitely within the scope of “acts that are necessary and inevitable for the normal functioning of the club.”

You fans of irony should note that Laporta’s history with the club essentially began in 1998, when he forced an unsuccessful confidence vote against then-president Josep Nunez. Laporta then successfully stood for election in 2003, running on a “bring Beckham to the Nou Camp” platform.

Well, he couldn’t get Beckham, so he settled for this Brazilian named Ronaldinho, and the rest is history. His tenure began with the club trying to rid itself of underperformers, so that it could become the bright, shining entity that it has now become. Barca was big, but many argue that it became world-wide under the aegis of Laporta/Rijkaard/Ronaldinho, playing the kind of football that sold shirts and grabbed attention.

Many also say that with Laporta’s campaign against the Barca ultras, the Boixos Nois, the Nou Camp became a much nicer place to watch a match. No violence, no stress, just a tourist and soci-friendly little hamlet. Debt isn’t as crushing as it once was, either.

During Laporta’s tenure, the club grabbed a Champions League crown and two league trophies, ending six trophy-less years before Laporta. Hot on the heels of the side’s European crown, no other candidate even ran against Laporta in September of 2006, so he won another four-year term.

Now, it hasn’t been six years, but does any of that above sound familiar? Players out, coach out, new system in after two trophy-less years.

(Rant time….)

Giralt claims to have the best interests of the club at heart with his destructive foray, but he doesn’t. He claims not to want anything save the success of the club, should his efforts result in the dismantling of Laporta and the current board. Horseshit.

We have been silver-less for two seasons now, and have decided to reload the cannon, so to speak. There’s a new coach, a slew of new signings, and under or non-performers are being jettisoned. To unsettle all of that now is extremely dangerous. If Laporta were any other president, it wouldn’t be as bad. But he is almost as big a symbol of the club as any of the players. This helps on the public relations side, but it also helps with the transfer negotiations. Many believe that he was the one able to prise Alves from Sevilla, thanks to a relationship with Del Nido.

Dunno. What I do know is this: You can’t screw with a program before it is complete, which is, in effect, what Giralt and his cohorts are wanting. They say that everything will run as before, that nothing will be upset, that operations will continue as before. All they want is new folks running things, because Laporta and his board suck. Oh, and we’re keeping Eto’o and Ronaldinho, while adding Aguero, never mind that he isn’t for sale, and has a 40 million Euro release clause. We will most likely be as successful getting El Kun as Laporta was getting David Beckham.

Were I able to be in Barcelona on Sunday, I would be voting not just no, but hell no to this attempt. It’s a destabilizing, misguided power grab.

Barça’s New Jerseys
You can check out the new FCB kits here on the official site. Let’s hear what you have to say about them in the comments. Here are all three together: Update: And thanks to faithful reader JC for this newest link to the players in the new kits.

You can check out the new FCB kits here on the official site. Let’s hear what you have to say about them in the comments. Here are all three together:

Update: And thanks to faithful reader JC for this newest link to the players in the new kits.

It’s official: Dani Alves is in the house
Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.” He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. [...]

Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.”

He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. And he’s our most exciting signing of the summer transfer season. He’s also the most expensive defensive transfer ever. Is he worth it? Time will tell.

Interested fans will recall that some of us were saying that Mr. Henry was the most exciting transfer of last summer, and one Toure Yaya turned out to be in fact the most exciting signing of the summer, in the 20/20 goodness that is hindsight.

Be that as it may, I repeat:

This is the most exciting signing of the summer season. Davi Alves is considered by most to be the best right back in the world. He is a terrier on the pitch, who seems to take losing possession of the ball personally, as does our very own Leo Messi. The road was long, which began with our offer of a lot of money, and Sevilla’s own Skeletor saying “For 25 million, I will send them Alves’ boots, so that a junior player can wear them.”

And so it went. We don’t have exact numbers, but figure he’s a 30 million Euro man, by the time the incentives, etc are finished.

A quote from the very geeked Mr. Alves: “I am hungry to start playing and the sooner the better so I can show they did not make a mistake with me.”

I like to hear that. It’s hunger, the same kind of hunger that makes him the fittest player on the Brazilian national side, the same kind of hunger that made him a thorn in the side of every Liga team for season after season.

I’m not big on stats, so I won’t bother with them, because he’s starting from ground zero with us. But the question is demanded: Why did we sign him?

Well, we had a pretty good right back, Gianluca Zambrotta. But he wanted to go home and frankly, he would have been sent home anyhow after this signing. Alves is faster, better with the ball, a better shooter and an exceptional crosser of the ball. He’s also one of the world’s best free kick takers, not quite up there with the soon-to-be-gone Gordinho. It is a significant upgrade for the position, and more importantly makes us verge on unplayable.

Last season, Zambrotta was an excellent defender, but not really a threat. This season, Alves can stop an attacker, steal the ball, lead the break, lace in a cross or take the shot himself. The other big part of his game is free kicks, which means the “when in doubt, foul Messi” program is officially at an end. Who’s more dangerous, Messi in the box or Alves over a dead ball, just outside the box?

“I am happy to be living this dream,” says Alves.

So let’s all join in a rousing Blaugrana welcome for Dani Alves.

P.S. Yes, the plan is almost complete, because there’s still that striker complexity.

Goodbye, Giovani
Well, it’s belated adios time for Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramírez. The 18-year old has joined Tottenham for approximately 6million euros, which could rise to 11million euros depending on appearances and performance. It was fun to have Gio in our side and, frankly, I’m sad to see him go. I can’t blame him for his [...]

Well, it’s belated adios time for Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramírez. The 18-year old has joined Tottenham for approximately 6million euros, which could rise to 11million euros depending on appearances and performance. It was fun to have Gio in our side and, frankly, I’m sad to see him go. I can’t blame him for his move, as mercenary as it is, because he was in a side that was never really going to give him a large number of starts and thus was never going to give him a large-money contract.

Hopefully he has found a good home, but I have my doubts, as do many, I believe. I hope to be proven wrong and quickly so, really, but moving from Barcelona to Tottenham is by no means a step up, even if Gio claims, “It is a dream for me to come to a big club like Spurs.” Right, because Tottenham is a bigger club than Barcelona…(11th in the Premiership is better than 3rd in La Liga? Who knew.)

Enough of the negatives, though. I love the kid’s style and flair on the field and he was quickly developing; perhaps he’ll be another escaped gem like Fabregas and we’ll rue the day we didn’t give in to his demands for Ronaldinho-like money.

His stats with the team during his solitary year were:

La Liga: 28 appearances (10 starts, 18 subs); 3 goals; 4 assists*
Champions League: 5 appearances (1 start, 4 subs) 1 goal
Copa del Rey: 5 appearances, 0 goals

Overall: 38 appearances, 4 goals, 4 assists. Not too shabby for a first-year player who is only 18. Not bad at all, really. But he wanted more, so more he’ll get from Juande Ramos’ new “Spanish Armada”…Best of luck to our little man, who grew up in the youth ranks (from 2001) and is now plying his trade far from “home.” May it go well for you, Gio. And may Soccernet spell your name correctly some day.

*all assists are listed from Soccernet, even though I generally disagree with keeping assist stats in soccer because there is no way to define assists or, at the very least, an agreed upon way of figuring them out. Yet I’ll list them here because the stats are generally indicative of performance.

Vacation Time!
Hey folks, this is just a brief note to tell you that I, Isaiah, am going on vacation for 3 weeks. I’ll be doing the European backpack tour, so I’ll probably be completely out of contact during that time. It’s up to Kevin to hold down the fort in terms of telling you what’s going [...]

Hey folks, this is just a brief note to tell you that I, Isaiah, am going on vacation for 3 weeks. I’ll be doing the European backpack tour, so I’ll probably be completely out of contact during that time. It’s up to Kevin to hold down the fort in terms of telling you what’s going on.

I’ll be back the week of July 21, in case you’d like to keep a running countdown to my return.

As they say in the Czech Republic, “Kde domov m?j?…mezi ?echy domov m?j!”

Martín Cáceres: blauguayan
A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of [...]

A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of depth; this year he’ll be standing in (or replacing outright) Gabi Milito, who is going to be injured until sometime around when the cows come home. Which is, unfortunately for the beef eaters out there, not until March or so.

The vital stats for Cáceres: 6′0″, age 21. Born in Montevideo, plays for the Uruguay national team, and has Sergio Ramos hair. For my money he looks like Javier Bardem’s younger, more athletic, less ruthless brother. And yeah, I’m acting as if the only movie Bardem has been in was No Country for Old Men cause I’m a jackass American.*

I expect big things from Cáceres, but I don’t expect him to start automatically unless he somehow has a great report with Puyol. I do expect Márquez to start alongside Puyol at first, but Guardiola may take advantage of his grace period and really just experiment with the lineup a little, including putting Cáceres in the starting 11 from the get-go. We’ll have to wait and see.

And I still very much dislike the new home jersey.

*For the record, I really liked Mar Adentro and I was so-so on Carne trémula, but I haven’t seen Before Night Falls, Love in the Time of Cholera, or actually anything else Bardem’s been in. And I didn’t even like No Country all that much, but only because I got bored by the end.

Seydou Keita: Official Presentation
Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though… Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May [...]

Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though…

Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May your stay be wonderful and full of more goals against Real Madrid!

Congratulations, Barça B!
With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first [...]

With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first team manager tomorrow (Tuesday).

The team finished the regular season with a record of 25W-8D-5L (83pts), 70GF 41GA (+29GD). At home they were unbeaten, winning 17 and drawing just twice. They weren’t so great away (8W-6D-5L), but they got the job done when it counted: the playoffs. There, they drew their first game away to Castillo 2-2, but then blanked them in the return leg 6-0. They advanced to the final and again started away to Barbastro, winning 0-2. At home in the return leg Barça B won 1-0 and secured their promotion.

Congratulations to all the Barça B players!

It’s official: Dani Alves is in the house
Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.” He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. [...]

Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.”

He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. And he’s our most exciting signing of the summer transfer season. He’s also the most expensive defensive transfer ever. Is he worth it? Time will tell.

Interested fans will recall that some of us were saying that Mr. Henry was the most exciting transfer of last summer, and one Toure Yaya turned out to be in fact the most exciting signing of the summer, in the 20/20 goodness that is hindsight.

Be that as it may, I repeat:

This is the most exciting signing of the summer season. Davi Alves is considered by most to be the best right back in the world. He is a terrier on the pitch, who seems to take losing possession of the ball personally, as does our very own Leo Messi. The road was long, which began with our offer of a lot of money, and Sevilla’s own Skeletor saying “For 25 million, I will send them Alves’ boots, so that a junior player can wear them.”

And so it went. We don’t have exact numbers, but figure he’s a 30 million Euro man, by the time the incentives, etc are finished.

A quote from the very geeked Mr. Alves: “I am hungry to start playing and the sooner the better so I can show they did not make a mistake with me.”

I like to hear that. It’s hunger, the same kind of hunger that makes him the fittest player on the Brazilian national side, the same kind of hunger that made him a thorn in the side of every Liga team for season after season.

I’m not big on stats, so I won’t bother with them, because he’s starting from ground zero with us. But the question is demanded: Why did we sign him?

Well, we had a pretty good right back, Gianluca Zambrotta. But he wanted to go home and frankly, he would have been sent home anyhow after this signing. Alves is faster, better with the ball, a better shooter and an exceptional crosser of the ball. He’s also one of the world’s best free kick takers, not quite up there with the soon-to-be-gone Gordinho. It is a significant upgrade for the position, and more importantly makes us verge on unplayable.

Last season, Zambrotta was an excellent defender, but not really a threat. This season, Alves can stop an attacker, steal the ball, lead the break, lace in a cross or take the shot himself. The other big part of his game is free kicks, which means the “when in doubt, foul Messi” program is officially at an end. Who’s more dangerous, Messi in the box or Alves over a dead ball, just outside the box?

“I am happy to be living this dream,” says Alves.

So let’s all join in a rousing Blaugrana welcome for Dani Alves.

P.S. Yes, the plan is almost complete, because there’s still that striker complexity.

Barça’s New Jerseys
You can check out the new FCB kits here on the official site. Let’s hear what you have to say about them in the comments. Here are all three together: Update: And thanks to faithful reader JC for this newest link to the players in the new kits.

You can check out the new FCB kits here on the official site. Let’s hear what you have to say about them in the comments. Here are all three together:

Update: And thanks to faithful reader JC for this newest link to the players in the new kits.

Goodbye, Giovani
Well, it’s belated adios time for Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramírez. The 18-year old has joined Tottenham for approximately 6million euros, which could rise to 11million euros depending on appearances and performance. It was fun to have Gio in our side and, frankly, I’m sad to see him go. I can’t blame him for his [...]

Well, it’s belated adios time for Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramírez. The 18-year old has joined Tottenham for approximately 6million euros, which could rise to 11million euros depending on appearances and performance. It was fun to have Gio in our side and, frankly, I’m sad to see him go. I can’t blame him for his move, as mercenary as it is, because he was in a side that was never really going to give him a large number of starts and thus was never going to give him a large-money contract.

Hopefully he has found a good home, but I have my doubts, as do many, I believe. I hope to be proven wrong and quickly so, really, but moving from Barcelona to Tottenham is by no means a step up, even if Gio claims, “It is a dream for me to come to a big club like Spurs.” Right, because Tottenham is a bigger club than Barcelona…(11th in the Premiership is better than 3rd in La Liga? Who knew.)

Enough of the negatives, though. I love the kid’s style and flair on the field and he was quickly developing; perhaps he’ll be another escaped gem like Fabregas and we’ll rue the day we didn’t give in to his demands for Ronaldinho-like money.

His stats with the team during his solitary year were:

La Liga: 28 appearances (10 starts, 18 subs); 3 goals; 4 assists*
Champions League: 5 appearances (1 start, 4 subs) 1 goal
Copa del Rey: 5 appearances, 0 goals

Overall: 38 appearances, 4 goals, 4 assists. Not too shabby for a first-year player who is only 18. Not bad at all, really. But he wanted more, so more he’ll get from Juande Ramos’ new “Spanish Armada”…Best of luck to our little man, who grew up in the youth ranks (from 2001) and is now plying his trade far from “home.” May it go well for you, Gio. And may Soccernet spell your name correctly some day.

*all assists are listed from Soccernet, even though I generally disagree with keeping assist stats in soccer because there is no way to define assists or, at the very least, an agreed upon way of figuring them out. Yet I’ll list them here because the stats are generally indicative of performance.

A big day in Barca history….a.k.a. “Votar no!”
As in, vote no against the “no confidence” vote. This is, for many Barca fans, a big day in the club’s history. Bigger than any player signing, bigger than any match win or loss. Sunday, July 6 is the day that a vote that was forced by soci Oriol Giralt has, along with 5,882 other [...]

As in, vote no against the “no confidence” vote.

This is, for many Barca fans, a big day in the club’s history. Bigger than any player signing, bigger than any match win or loss. Sunday, July 6 is the day that a vote that was forced by soci Oriol Giralt
has, along with 5,882 other socis, angled for a no confidence vote against current Barcelona board president Joan Laporta and his mates. (There are now more than 9,000 signatures on the petition.)

So, what’s at stake here? Essentially, control and direction of the club for the foreseeable future. Here are the facts. My rant will follow after that.

After two silver-less seasons, Giralt began to circulate a petition that garnered the necessary number of signatures to force the vote. If 65 percent of voting socis vote for the Giralt petition, the board is dissolved and elections will be held within three months, for a new president and board.

The in-person vote will take place at the Camp Nou on Sunday, July 6.

Now for speculation.

Sandro Rosell,

who has a past with Laporta, is rumored to be the leading candidate to replace Laporta. He’s essentially running on a “I’ll bring Kun Aguero to the Nou Camp” platform. Rosell denies that he has anything to do with this petition drive, but has of late criticized everything from player sales and transfers, to what Laporta had for breakfast and the color of his socks.

Laporta is saying that a no confidence vote could paralyze the board and the team at a critical time, in effect freezing all player activity and allowing for nothing but the basic, day-to-day operations of the club. Here is the relevant passage:

“The interim committee exercises the functions of government, administration and representation that belong to the board, but limited to the acts that are necessary and inevitable for the normal functioning of the club and the protection of its interests.”

Now, that bold-faced bit is where the lawyers are going to get involved. Laporta, quite naturally, suggests that passage does NOT allow for transfers or completions of ongoing negotiations. Giralt says that Laporta is a liar and scare-monger, that transfers at this time of the season are most definitely within the scope of “acts that are necessary and inevitable for the normal functioning of the club.”

You fans of irony should note that Laporta’s history with the club essentially began in 1998, when he forced an unsuccessful confidence vote against then-president Josep Nunez. Laporta then successfully stood for election in 2003, running on a “bring Beckham to the Nou Camp” platform.

Well, he couldn’t get Beckham, so he settled for this Brazilian named Ronaldinho, and the rest is history. His tenure began with the club trying to rid itself of underperformers, so that it could become the bright, shining entity that it has now become. Barca was big, but many argue that it became world-wide under the aegis of Laporta/Rijkaard/Ronaldinho, playing the kind of football that sold shirts and grabbed attention.

Many also say that with Laporta’s campaign against the Barca ultras, the Boixos Nois, the Nou Camp became a much nicer place to watch a match. No violence, no stress, just a tourist and soci-friendly little hamlet. Debt isn’t as crushing as it once was, either.

During Laporta’s tenure, the club grabbed a Champions League crown and two league trophies, ending six trophy-less years before Laporta. Hot on the heels of the side’s European crown, no other candidate even ran against Laporta in September of 2006, so he won another four-year term.

Now, it hasn’t been six years, but does any of that above sound familiar? Players out, coach out, new system in after two trophy-less years.

(Rant time….)

Giralt claims to have the best interests of the club at heart with his destructive foray, but he doesn’t. He claims not to want anything save the success of the club, should his efforts result in the dismantling of Laporta and the current board. Horseshit.

We have been silver-less for two seasons now, and have decided to reload the cannon, so to speak. There’s a new coach, a slew of new signings, and under or non-performers are being jettisoned. To unsettle all of that now is extremely dangerous. If Laporta were any other president, it wouldn’t be as bad. But he is almost as big a symbol of the club as any of the players. This helps on the public relations side, but it also helps with the transfer negotiations. Many believe that he was the one able to prise Alves from Sevilla, thanks to a relationship with Del Nido.

Dunno. What I do know is this: You can’t screw with a program before it is complete, which is, in effect, what Giralt and his cohorts are wanting. They say that everything will run as before, that nothing will be upset, that operations will continue as before. All they want is new folks running things, because Laporta and his board suck. Oh, and we’re keeping Eto’o and Ronaldinho, while adding Aguero, never mind that he isn’t for sale, and has a 40 million Euro release clause. We will most likely be as successful getting El Kun as Laporta was getting David Beckham.

Were I able to be in Barcelona on Sunday, I would be voting not just no, but hell no to this attempt. It’s a destabilizing, misguided power grab.

Seydou Keita: Official Presentation
Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though… Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May [...]

Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though…

Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May your stay be wonderful and full of more goals against Real Madrid!

Congratulations, Barça B!
With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first [...]

With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first team manager tomorrow (Tuesday).

The team finished the regular season with a record of 25W-8D-5L (83pts), 70GF 41GA (+29GD). At home they were unbeaten, winning 17 and drawing just twice. They weren’t so great away (8W-6D-5L), but they got the job done when it counted: the playoffs. There, they drew their first game away to Castillo 2-2, but then blanked them in the return leg 6-0. They advanced to the final and again started away to Barbastro, winning 0-2. At home in the return leg Barça B won 1-0 and secured their promotion.

Congratulations to all the Barça B players!

It’s now official, so welcome, Gerard Pique!
“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.” Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the [...]

“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.”

Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the defender, who was signed away when he was 17 years old from our youth ranks, isn’t any less sweet.

And now, the stats. He’s just 21 years old and can play center or right back (for those wondering about the Alves stand-in). He’s 6-foot-4 inches tall, and is known for his good head. The fiscal deal isn’t really all that well-known, but as has been reported earlier, it’s probably something around the bargain price of 5 million.

He gives us size, he gives us pace, and on set pieces he’s a real threat with his height and size. This is no Crouch. Pique has some meat on his bones, and gives us much-needed defensive depth. It goes without saying that he can defend with his head as well, and you’d need to be one hell of a leaper to outdo him.

Are we as excited about this signing as the others? Not quite, because I don’t figure Pique to have a regular spot in the starting XI. But as well all saw, depth was a huge problem for us last season. As back line players got tired, the folks that were brought in weren’t quite up to snuff. Thuram worked hard and knows a lot, but he isn’t anything vaguely approximating the man he once was. So there was lots of flailing. As the season wears on, easy controls of counterattacks become just a step behind the attacker, which leads to goals. Depth is critical, and Pique is part of that program.

He’s Catalan, so he understands what it means to wear the shirt.

Pique continued, “My desire to play for this club is unlike that I have for any other.”

I have no doubt that he’ll show it. Man U sold him at a good time for his development. He’s going to become one hell of a defender, and like all good young’uns coming up in Catalunya, he bleeds blaugrana.

So let’s give it up for the newest member of the side, and wish him well.

P.S. Yes, I know what his last name is, and I don’t care that it isn’t all that uncommon in CataLand. I just can’t bring myself to type it sometimes.

Vacation Time!
Hey folks, this is just a brief note to tell you that I, Isaiah, am going on vacation for 3 weeks. I’ll be doing the European backpack tour, so I’ll probably be completely out of contact during that time. It’s up to Kevin to hold down the fort in terms of telling you what’s going [...]

Hey folks, this is just a brief note to tell you that I, Isaiah, am going on vacation for 3 weeks. I’ll be doing the European backpack tour, so I’ll probably be completely out of contact during that time. It’s up to Kevin to hold down the fort in terms of telling you what’s going on.

I’ll be back the week of July 21, in case you’d like to keep a running countdown to my return.

As they say in the Czech Republic, “Kde domov m?j?…mezi ?echy domov m?j!”

Josep Guardiola: officially official
Pep Guardiola was officially presented as the new manager of the first team today, closing one chapter (that of Frank Rijkaard) and opening another. It’s good to have Guardiola actually be part of the team so that we can focus all of our energy on other things. In his post-presentation press conference, Guardiola made a couple [...]

Pep Guardiola was officially presented as the new manager of the first team today, closing one chapter (that of Frank Rijkaard) and opening another. It’s good to have Guardiola actually be part of the team so that we can focus all of our energy on other things.

In his post-presentation press conference, Guardiola made a couple of bold statements. Some of them I liked, some of them I thought were statements being made by someone who doesn’t know how to handle the media.

I’m not experienced [as a coach] because I’m 37 years old. The only thing I have going for me as a coach is that these gentlemen [Laporta and Txiki] have chosen me. I’m not worried and I’m not scared by the challenge. I’m taking it on with a lot of confidence.*

That’s all well and good, though he makes the mistake of admitting that his superiors took on a completely inexperienced coach; whatever, hopefully it’s just Guardiola not giving a crap about what the media does to his words. He does, however, go on to further dampen the mood for me.

Every player from last season’s squad struck me as being at a high level [talent-wise]. With the technical secretary [Txiki] we are forming a squad and Deco, Ronaldinho, and Eto’o are not in our minds, but we’ll see how it goes.**

I disagree a million percent with saying straight up that you don’t want particular players, especially when those players are top-notch stars. Deco is having a superb Euro and yet he’s out? Eto’o is just another superb striker with some emotional problems, but the operative word, for me, is superb, not problems. Ronaldinho, well, that’s something else that can’t really be judged from the outside, but suffice to say that it’s probably a difficult situation (and now the LA Galaxy are in the mix, according to El Mundo Deportivo — they’ve offered Barcelona €26m for him and offered €32million a year to Ronnie himself in salary and image rights, split evenly).

Still, you don’t air that sort of thing to the media even if you don’t give a crap about what they’ll do with it because it’s not in your best interest to force your club’s hand thanks to the players in question getting offended and turning potentially salvageable situation into a utter disaster or making any transfer fee for them lower because everyone knows they’re being run out of Dodge. It’s certainly nice for the speculators (myself included, of course) to know what’s going on, but since we still don’t have a clue as to what’s going on, why does Guardiola feel that giving out these details is a good idea? If you’re into unity above all, e pluribus unum if you will, why create fissures in your locker room before you’ve taken control? Bold statements lead to bold reactions and that’s just the sort of thing that hurt last year, if we can believe all the reports we’ve read about internal division.

Barça B ain’t no first team, buddy. This comic from Sport is a good example of what Guardiola is in for. If you can’t read Spanish, I think you’ll still get the gist just by looking at the pictures.

*Feel free to take umbrage at my translation: “No tengo experiencia porque tengo 37 años. Mi único mérito como entrenador es que estos señores me han escogido a mi. No tengo miedo ni estoy asustado ante el reto. Lo cojo con mucha ilusión.”

**”Todos los jugadores que tenía la plantilla la pasada temporada me parecen de un nivel altísimo. Con la secretaría técnica estamos formando una plantilla y Deco, Ronaldinho y Eto’o no están en nuestra mente, pero veremos como va”

Martín Cáceres: blauguayan
A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of [...]

A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of depth; this year he’ll be standing in (or replacing outright) Gabi Milito, who is going to be injured until sometime around when the cows come home. Which is, unfortunately for the beef eaters out there, not until March or so.

The vital stats for Cáceres: 6′0″, age 21. Born in Montevideo, plays for the Uruguay national team, and has Sergio Ramos hair. For my money he looks like Javier Bardem’s younger, more athletic, less ruthless brother. And yeah, I’m acting as if the only movie Bardem has been in was No Country for Old Men cause I’m a jackass American.*

I expect big things from Cáceres, but I don’t expect him to start automatically unless he somehow has a great report with Puyol. I do expect Márquez to start alongside Puyol at first, but Guardiola may take advantage of his grace period and really just experiment with the lineup a little, including putting Cáceres in the starting 11 from the get-go. We’ll have to wait and see.

And I still very much dislike the new home jersey.

*For the record, I really liked Mar Adentro and I was so-so on Carne trémula, but I haven’t seen Before Night Falls, Love in the Time of Cholera, or actually anything else Bardem’s been in. And I didn’t even like No Country all that much, but only because I got bored by the end.